it's safe to deduce that people generally include things of some importance to them.
so just two days ago, on Google News, the China Earthquake tab was absent, while the Burma tab was there so people can constantly check back about the latest updates (on a side note, considering the media clamp around the event, i can't imagine the Burma tab might be updated much). this morning, when i turn on Google News, i find a brand new China Earthquake tab. i'm no idiot (i'd like to think so, at least) and i figured the world (google is most of the internet world right?) is more concerned about Cyclone Nargis, which has since left at least 100,000 dead, innumerable missing/hurt. this is, of course, an estimate considering the lack of information from Burma. on the other hand, the earthquake that took place in the Sichuan province killed over 65,000 people, and many more missing/hurt. it seems probable Google works on a number-of-deaths system, which would be perfectly reasonable and logical. (or they figured the number of hits on news links to information about the cyclone generated enough hits to warrant a tab of their own!) on a global scale, people seem to genuinely be more concerned with Burma.
now here's my gripe (i generally have one, don't i?). in the local print media, we see a disproportionate coverage of both events. there's always a larger amount of china news than burma news. someone might say "but information isn't leaving burma... how can we print anything when we receive nothing?" well, people certainly have things to say about the chinese earthquake, i'm sure you can find other people with views on the burmese cyclone. also, compare the disproportionate aid response. wasn't there a television fund-raising programme for the chinese earthquake some nights ago? why isn't someone doing something like this for Burma? humanitarians should not see borders or allow political plays to cloud their judgment. just as many people are dying in either situation, and there are clear humanitarian needs on both sides of the border. we shouldn't punish the burmese people for their heinous government, i'm sure they've received enough punishment in their daily lives.
note: i was reeling from sheer disgust when news surfaced of spam-scam text messages. seriously, it does nothing for their image....
